Fantasy Flight Brings Us More Cthulhu: Eldritch Horror

Fantasy Flight has announced Eldritch Horror, a brand-new co-op—a companion piece to their already popular games Elder Sign and Arkham Horror.

"In Eldritch Horror, one to eight players take the roles of globetrotting investigators, who must work together to solve mysteries related to an Ancient One – an elder being intent on global destruction. Along the way, you’ll gather clues, encounter strange and mysterious circumstances, battle monsters, and embark on daring expeditions."

"Each loathsome Ancient One is shrouded in secrecy, and each comes with a unique deck of Mystery cards, which draws you and your group of investigators ever deeper into the narrative. The tasks on these Mystery cards, along with the locations of otherworldly gates, menacing monsters, and helpful clues will inform both your travel plans and the dangers you confront.

Each Mystery card presents a new objective to complete, and each mystery you solve will bring you one step nearer to preventing the destruction of our world. With clues scattered across the globe, you’ll find adventure no matter where you travel. Maybe you’ll need to explore the vast expanse of Tunguska to research a strange comet, which seems to coincide with the rumblings of ancient evil. Perhaps, you’ll be tasked with discovering what lies behind the veil between our world and other, strange, dimensions.

Only by solving mysteries specific to the Ancient One you face will you and your fellow investigators be able to prevent impending doom."

The game comes with 12 different investigators to choose from, and a ton of cards, so FF is promising no two games with be the same.

Personally, I think we need more Cthulhu games like we need a hole in the head. But Fantasy Flight will have demos running at GenCon. So check it out if you're going, and let us know how it is!

Fluxx: The Board Game—A Double-Take Review

We adore chaos because we love to produce order." ~M.C. Escher Looney Labs has turned their hit card game into a board game. Is it as chaotic as the card game? Is it completely different? Will Firestone actually like this game?! Let's find out!

The Basics

Fluxx: The Board Game is for 2-4 players, ages 8 and up, and takes 15-30 minutes to play.

The Components

12 wooden playing pieces in four different colors: 3 yellow cubes, 3 green cylinders, 3 red pawns, and 3 blue person-shaped pieces.

8 orange pegs

Tiles and pegboards

1 deck of cards

The Setup

Place a peg into the leftmost peg on each of the rules on the Rules pegboard, and into the 3 spot on the Win pegboard.

Place the Start tile in the center of the table, mix up the other tiles, and create a 3 x 3 square of tiles around that center Start tile.

Pick player colors, place all used pieces on the Start tile, and give each player the card that corresponds to his or her color.

Look through the deck and find the first five Goal cards and place them in a pile faceup on the Win pegboard.

Shuffle the cards and deal three to each player.

Before the game begins, everyone gets one free rule change. You can move any peg one space to the right (or up if you're moving the peg on the Win pegboard. You can move any peg, even if it's been moved by someone else, but you can never undo or reverse another player's move.

The Gameplay

Randomly determine a start player. On a player's turn, you'll just look at the Rules pegboard and do what it says. You'll be drawing 1-4 cards, depending on where the peg is. You'll be playing 1-4 cards, depending on where the peg is. You'll be moving 2-5 spaces, depending on where the peg is. And you'll have a hand limit of none, 3, 2, or 1 cards, depending on where the peg is.

You can play cards and make moves in any order you want, and can even alternate between them.

There are blue Action cards that make something happen. They might let you trade hands with another player, or force everyone to trade colors. There are yellow New Rule cards, that change the rules somehow. They might tell you exactly how to change a peg, or give you options on what to move. Green Leaper cards have one of the pictures from the tiles on them, and you just jump a piece to that space. Purple Goal cards are played onto the top of the Goal pile, so that becomes the current Goal.

The Start tile has four arrows leading out of it, and you can only leave using one of those arrows. You'll be moving and playing cards and trying to match the Goal card currently on the top of the Win board.

Most spaces have a picture of one thing on them: chocolate, sun, music, brain. Each space can only hold one piece. If you move onto a space with another piece, you bump it to an adjacent unoccupied space (other than the one you just came from).

Each tile has one octagon space, which can hold any number of players. There are also two Portal spaces. As soon as someone moves onto one of the Portals, that person is immediately transported to the other Portal space.

There are also Special Move rules. One allows you to rotate a tile as one of your moves. One lets you pick up a tile and move it to another space—as long as you keep the orientation the same and as long as it's still connected to the rest of the tiles. And finally, the Wraparound rule lets you move off of one edge of the board and wraparound to the other. You can even cross gaps left over from uprooting a tile this way.

Any time (even on another player's turn) that you have pieces on spaces that match the current goal, you take that card. And as soon as someone has a number of Goal cards matching the current win level on the Win board, that person...wins!

The Verdict and Recommendations

Firestone—It's no secret that I don't really like Fluxx. It's way WAY too chaotic for me. I'll play with my family, but I wouldn't call it my favorite family game by a long shot. But Looney Labs wanted me to play this anyway, because it was more strategic, they said. I was skeptical but open-minded. Well they were absolutely right.

Rather than being based completely on the luck of the draw, Fluxx: The Board Game feels more like a puzzle: Each turn is a little puzzle to solve. Sure, there are still cards to draw and luck there, but there's also more stuff you can do to affect your position. How can I get myself onto those two spaces using the rules, cards, and movement available to me? While there's still some chaos and luck, I felt as though I had more control than I EVER had in the card game.

Jeremiah—I, on the other hand, am a huge fan of Fluxx! Fluxx, if nothing else, is unique compared to anything else you will play—I love the way the game wreaks havoc with the players, causing them to readjust constantly. No, it's not very strategic—at times—but there's something about seeing the agony on your friend's face when they realize they HAVE to play a card that causes you to win!

Fluxx the board game captures a lot of the original feel of the card game but does a great job of creating a new experience for fans of the game and newcomers!

Firestone—The pieces are a mix of good and bad. The pegboards and tiles are all nice and thick, but the pegs are too long. So when the pegs are in, the boards won't sit flat on the table, and if you push the board down flat onto the table, some of the pegs pop out. The wooden pieces are nice and chunky, and the cards are all adequate—though very, very thin.

All the pegs in, or flat on the table—you can't have both.

Jeremiah—I'm also not a fan of some of the components. Yeah the tiles are thick and sturdy, and the cards are good quality. But I wasn't a fan of the pegboard system, either. I love its function! Just not its form. One of the peg holes is a little loose, too, causing the peg to fall out. Maybe it's the Euro gamer in me, but I'd just rather have had a tracker token on a track for the rules.

Firestone—Yeah, even my wife, who isn't a gamer at all, asked, "Why didn't they just have wooden cubes that you move on a board to keep track of this?"

UPDATE: Amber from Looney Labs has contacted us to let us know that they have a solution: pieces you stick to the bottom of the pegboards to raise them up high enough for the pegs to fit fully in. Contact customer-support [at] looneylabs.com. Thanks Looney Labs!

One other small complaint is that they chose the vanilla Fluxx as the theme. I completely understand why they did it, since it's their flagship product, and the one most people will be familiar with. But it's also kinda...boring. A cookie. A sun. A glass of milk. A piece of pizza. Andrew Looney. Meh... I would have been all over a Star Fluxx: The Board Game. Maybe that's in the works, but asking people to buy multiple versions of a $10 card game is one thing. Asking them to buy multiple versions of a $30 board game is very much another... But that's just a personal preference.

Jeremiah—I was totally fine with the original Fluxx theme; it sets up the base for the offshoot of the franchise. I, of course, have no way of knowing Looney Labs' plans for the future, but I could see them selling expansion packs instead new complete versions. Swap out the tiles and the cards and you're set—you don't need new player tokens and rule boards etc. Of course, Zombie and Pirate Fluxx would make for some cooler meeple options!

I'm pretty impressed with the great synergy between the board/tiles, cards and rule trackers! The cards still have their Fluxxy charm, and the board adds some great decision-making moments as well.

Firestone—Yeah, but the decisions aren't overwhelming. I could see someone prone to analysis paralysis getting overwhelmed by all of the choices as they puzzle through things. But it probably won't be a problem for most people.

Jeremiah Final Thoughts—As a fan of Fluxx, I have to say, while I was excited about FtBG I was slightly nervous that it might be an obligatory attempt to cash in on the reputation of its successor. All of the fears have been put to bed soundly! This game is fun! It is very puzzle-like, and the way it allows players to shift and change the playing surface makes it very replayable. Fluxx: The Board Game is the M. C. Escher of board games. Put this game on your table!

Firestone Final Thoughts—Aside from the terrible pegboard implementation, I like this game a lot. It's very light, and unlikely to make it past a couple of plays with my regular game group. But my family and I really like this, and I actually think it's a great nongamer game. I agree with Jeremiah: Put this game on the table!

Thanks so much for reading! And if you want, you can watch the video review, too!

Our Double Take Review of Fluxx the Board Game by Looney Labs! It's a new spin on an old classic, but is it worth it? Watch to find out! What did you think of Fluxx the Board Game? What do you think of our channel and reviews?

Contests, Updates, and Podcasts! Oh My!

Hey Everyone! Jeremiah checking in with you to give you some cool updates and news!

We announced earlier this week that we are giving away a copy of Fluxx: The Board Game to our YouTube subscribers, so head over to our YouTube Channel, click subscribe and tell your friends!

Check out the video after the jump for all kinds of great news and info on what you can expect from TOG in the very near future!

And yes! We have recorded our first episode of the Theology of Games Podcast! We'll be going through the process of getting it listed in iTunes and we'll let you know when and where you can find that as soon as humanly possible! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ynf8-yTNwQ&w=560&h=315]

Don't forget those interweb things!

Facebook! Twitter! Instagram!

Thanks for reading and watching!

Dungeon Heroes—A Double-Take Review

The light coming from your flickering torch is getting dimmer and dimmer, but you move forward anyway, stepping over the corpse of the Ogre. As you approach the next room, you see a chest. This is it. What you came for. The treasure! From your left, beyond the nearly extinguished light, you hear the distinct sound of bones rattling...

Dungeon Heroes calls itself a tile-placement dungeon crawl. Does it succeed at either of those claims? Let's find out!

The Components

1 Game board

4 dice to track the Heroes' health: a d10, d8, d6, and d4

4 Hero Boards, which tell you about each Hero's special ability, and are a place to keep the health die

47 Dungeon Tiles, which show the traps, treasure, and monsters of the game

14 wooden meeples. But calling these meeples is an injustice. These are seriously cool wooden figures, with different sculpts for each hero and each type of monster. They look terrific.

The Setup

One person is the Dungeon Lord and the other person plays the Heroes. The Dungeon player puts the tiles near him. These include traps, monsters, treasure, and artifacts. The Hero sets up his Heroes in any way he wants on the starting row.

The Gameplay

The game is split into two different phases, the passive phase and the aggressive phase. These phases refer to the actions available to the dungeon player.

Passive Phase—During the passive phase the Dungeon player must take 4 tiles (chosen randomly) from the available tiles, look at them and then devise a placement scheme. He can place them anywhere on the board and they are placed face down, so it helps to remember where you placed them!

The player turn for the Hero player is the same throughout the game. They receive four actions per turn. An action can be spent to move any of the four heroes, or use the Wizard's ability—turn up a face down tile—or the Cleric's ability—heal a hero in an adjacent square. Each of the heroes can only perform 2 actions per turn before they exhaust and must wait until next turn to be given an action. The Warrior and Rogue special abilities are free actions, if the Warrior steps on a tile that reveals a monster—or has already been revealed as a monster—he slays the monster. If the Rogue steps on a trap tile he disarms it. If the Hero player reveals/finds artifacts the hero character that moved onto that tile gains that item and can use it, or give it to another hero character in an adjacent square

Aggressive Phase—Once all the tiles have been pulled and placed by the Dungeon player, the passive phase is over and the AGGRESSIVE PHASE begins. Any monster tiles that have been revealed on the board are replaced with the corresponding monster. The Dungeon player now has 4 actions, which include moving a monster one tile, or revealing a tile. If you reveal a tile, you replace it with a monster. Then the monsters get to attack any adjacent Hero or any Hero the monster moved onto.

This back-and-fort continues until either the Hero has found three of the treasures, or all of the Heroes are dead.

The Verdict and Recommendations

Firestone—Well, first of all, this doesn't really feel like a dungeon crawl to me. It's really more of an abstract. And that's fine—there have been some great dungeon-themed abstracts, such as Dungeon Twister. Calling it a dungeon crawl just seems to be a bit of a stretch.

Jeremiah - I'm okay with calling this a dungeon crawl, if only because of the abilities the Hero player has to manage in the search for the treasure. Maybe it's a dungeon crawl that uses a few abstract mechanics. But at the end of the day you are searching a dungeon for treasure...

Firestone—I played games against an opponent and a few solo games. I actually preferred the solo games. It seemed that the strategy for the Dungeon player was to keep traps and so forth in the front, monsters in the back, and then once the monsters are out, go after the Warrior hard. Since he's the only once who can kill monsters (other than another Hero grabbing a one-time-use artifact), once you kill him, it's pretty much just cleaning up. This might change after a few plays, or by playing with a different opponent. The benefit of the solo game is that things come out randomly in the dungeon, so it actually felt more like a dungeon crawl where anything could pop up anywhere.

Jeremiah—I think both have merits. I think I prefer the two player version with the bluffing aspect. I found that after playing the same player a few times as the Dungeon player you had to change up your strategy because they would figure it out and send the Rogue in to disarm traps, and the the warrior would clean up the monster tiles before the monsters even made it on the board. If there was one tweak I would make is to put the Holy Grail into every setup, this gives the hero player a fighting chance if the Warrior does get taken out early on.

Firestone—The components are top-notch. The meeples are unique and intricate and really add some great flavor to the game. The tiles are thick and great quality. I like the artwork a lot. And the dice you use to track damage are a nice touch.

Jeremiah— I totally agree, the tactile-ish nature of this game is great! These are the most intricate and still very sturdy meeples EVER! The look of the game is great as well, the art, on the tiles and the board really create a great environment for the game!

Firestone—I feel like we should mention a couple of aspects that might put some readers off. (We are a blog written by two Christians, after all...) First is the artwork on the Damsel. She's another character included in the expansion (The Dragon & The Damsel), and if you rescue her, she joins the party and becomes a playable character. Apparently it's really warm in that dank dungeon, because she's wearing only a bikini-type wrap thing up top (the only part of her you can actually see), and the top and bottom of her breasts are visible. I'm not a fan of hypersexualizing women—my two boys are going to get enough of that as they grow up, and it will be a constant battle for me to teach them to ignore the world's view of women and show them that they're daughters of the King, and not just "a great rack..." So I don't need my games contributing to that battle on the side of the opposition. Yep, I can absolutely choose not to play with her in the game. I just want to make you aware it's there.

Jeremiah—Yeah, I've actually played the base game with my 7-year old. There isn't anything overly intimidating about it. It's a fun adventure type game. But both expansions stay well hidden and won't make their way onto the table much in my house. The other expansion that is included with the first (which is a great value, by the way!) is The Lords of the Undead. Functionally what this expansion brings to the game is great. Two more monster types, a necromancer that can bring back slain monsters. And the White Lady (a ghost)) who possesses a hero character giving the dungeon player control of that hero and thus allowing them to force the character into a trap, over to a monster etc. This is really cool for game play, but creeps me out. Possession isn't something to mess around with in my opinion. Most "dungeony" games walk a pretty fine line with me, and in this instance the line is crossed. Again, I don't have to play with that expansion, and I'm certainly not bashing Gamelyn and Michael Coe for putting it out there!! It's a simple case of my choice regarding this expansion, and I feel folks who are sensitive to this type of thing should know about it.

Firestone Final Verdict—This game was fine for me...but merely fine. I like my abstracts to be abstracts, and my monster-killing to be more...bashy? Total props on the components and the custom meeples and the artwork (other than Chesty La Rue) and making it play well as a solo. I just don't think I'll be reaching for this very often. Leave it on the shelf...

Jeremiah Final Verdict—Expansions aside, I really enjoy the base game; it seems like I'm in a season of life where the 90+ minute big board games are harder to get on the table. We still do, but it takes some effort to make it happen. This plays quick, offers many different strategic choices for both players, and has a lot of things I look for in a game: good synergy between components, bluffing, and sweet components! I say put this one on the table!

Thanks so much for reading! Please connect with us on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Kickstarter Weekly—August 1, 2013

Well it's Thursday and you know what that means... It's not yet Friday. But never fear because we're here with another installment of Kickstarter Weekly, the place where we make our recommendations and let you know what's a poppin' over on Kickstarter. Let's jump in, shall we?

King's Forge - Clever Mojo Games

Go back this project! We have both played the prototype (and will be posting our written AND video Double-Take on it soon!). This dice-builder offers up lots of great decision making moments, a bit of a take that element, and lots of ways to tweak your dice rolls. It's super easy to learn, play and teach. A pledge of $39 gets you a copy of this game and it's money well spent! Check out the full campaign here!

A Duel Betwixt Us - Game Salute

This nifty little 2-player dueling card game takes card dueling into the realm of an old-timey gentlemen's duel. Loaded with lots of humor and jest, the one looks like a lot of fun! In just about 24 hours the campaign is over 60% funded, so you can bet there's going to be all kinds of stretch goaly goodness coming for this one! A $35 pledge gets you the game shipped to your door in the US and UK! We'll be interviewing the game's co-designer Laurence Honderick next week so stay tuned for that! You can check out the campaign here, and be sure to watch the entertaining and informative video on this one!

Giant Meeples - Gamelyn Game

Gamelyn Games founder Michael Coe has found a great niche with these awesome, sturdy, and just super-cool-to-look-at meeples. They were introduced to the gaming world through Dungeon Heroes, and since then Gamelyn has been releasing different sets of meeples for gamers to use, give to kids to play with, use in story telling, or display proudly. The latest installment in this line is a set of GIANT MEEPLES! These things look great, could be used as a set of book ends, or a centerpiece in your medieval dinner party, or... well you can decide. You can pledge $12 and get one, or $40 and get 5, and there are dozens of them to choose from! Check out the campaign right here!

Click-Clack Lumberjack - Mayday Games

Also known as Toc Toc Woodman 2.0. Click-Clack Lumberjack is a dexterity game that puts a dangerous weapon in your children's hands. Ok, it's a plastic axe, but to my children I'm sure it would be a ninja ax, or a bat-ax or something to wield in a quest to eradicate evil... Anyway, there's this plastic tree and you're trying to knock the bark off of it without knocking the wood off of it. Bark scores points, wood scores negative points. An interesting pledge level of $17 gets you the game shipped in a flat rate box and the game box is collapsed to make everything fit. If you want it uncollapsed you can pay an extra $5 and get it shipped that way. Check out the full campaign here!

Dungeon Attack! - Attack Dice Games

Attack Dice, creators of the dice roller When Zombies Attack! are back at it with a dungeon themed dice-apalooza! Dungeon Attack! Looks like a game that takes a straight-forward dice roller and adds some depth and tweaks the scoring mechanism a little. I (Jeremiah) loved When Zombies Attack—it's a filler that comes out quite frequently with my group and is way better than Steve Jackson's Zombie Dice (which is basically a zombie-themed Farkle). This campaign is already funded and there are some sweet stretch goals in the future for backers! $20 gets you in on a copy of the game for this one and it looks well worth it if you're into rolling dice! Check out the full campaign here!

Thanks so much for reading! If you like what you see here we ask that you consider subscribing over on the right.  You can also find and interact with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

Why We Play Games in My House

By Jeremiah It occurred to me just a few nights ago while playing a prototype version of the Kickstarting Pigpen with my family, that some of the more deep and meaningful side benefits of playing games—sitting at a table instead of staring at the TV screen—were coming to fruition in my boys.

Yes, we play games in my house, quite often. We haven't relegated games to a family game night; games come out whenever we have the time, and what we play is determined by that days schedule. My schedule can be erratic at times, so it's often tough to schedule anything on a weekly reoccurring basis. So, what are these side benefits I'm speaking of?

Well, first off, because of the nature of board and card games, we are all excited to sit down, and interact with each other at the game table. It's sad, but many families today don't have time to even sit and have dinner together (which is sometimes the case in our home, although I'm glad to say this is the exception not the rule), but sitting at the game table and playing games together is something that my boys get excited about, and will actually choose over playing Skylanders or watching TV—score!

Secondly, my oldest just turned seven, and my youngest very recently turned five. My oldest is going into 1st grade in just a few weeks (where did summer go?!!?), and at the end of his kindergarten year he tested at an above-3rd-grade level in math! Now, I'd like to attribute some of that sheer genius to his genealogy, and the hard work of his mother and me to keep him on top of his academic journey and growth. But I've noticed as we've played games over the summer that we've reinforced, in a fun way, his math skills, and have seen improvement over the summer instead of him forgetting all that he's learned during the school year. I've also found myself finishing up a game with my boys, and as we are putting it away, I'll look at the box to find that it's recommended for children ages 10, 12, 13 years and up! Again, they're smart because of the gene pool they come from. But I think we can credit some of that development, and sharpening of their strategic and logical sensibilities, to repeatedly being taught, and playing new board games. They've become very well versed in learning rules, player turns/interactions, teamwork (in co-op games), and win conditions. This type of brain exercise can only help them in the future with academics, athletics, and eventually the workplace

And finally, and possibly most important, we have seen an impact in the growth of their character. Competitive sportsmanship has slowly but surely begun to sink in and become second nature. My wife and I make it a point to stress that we can have fun playing the game and trying to win, but there has to be one winner, and if it isn't you that's okay, you'll get a chance next time. Certainly there is plenty of excitement as a game draws to a conclusion, especially if it's a close game! But no one runs away in tears if the game doesn't end in their favor.

I'm a very competitive person (it probably has something to do with being a middle child), and I want my children to be competitive and give their all when they are competing, but I truly believe you learn more about a person and their character when they lose than when they win. It's easy in life to be a good winner; it takes character to be a good loser.

While we were playing Pigpen a few days ago, it dawned on me as I pulled out a jackhammer card to destroy a portion of my son's pen and potentially set free his pig, I'm not at all worried about his overreacting to my playing this card. We're playing the game, and he completely understands that this is how the game works. Of course they turned into devious little scoundrels and teamed up on me that game, but they both got it. It was a game, and we're going to go back and forth destroying each others' pens, and no one needs to get upset, have a fit, or shed tears over it. When the game ends, we'll put it away and move on. I don't even remember who won that game (I'm pretty sure it wasn't me), but when it ended, we cleaned up the cards, gave each other high fives and said "Good game!" and headed off to bedtime. No sore losers, no snotty faced winners. I was a happy dad.

And that's what happened, at the game table.

Thanks for reading. We love our subscribers, so if you like what you see please take a second and subscribe to the blog over on the right.

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and yes, even the YouTube!

And don't forget we're giving away a copy of Fluxx The Board Game if you subscribe on our YouTube channel!

A Special Interview w/ Unicorn City Director Bryan Lefler

Today we’re once again playing a bit against type,  as we have a little sit-down with Bryan Lefler, Editor, Writer, and Director of the film Unicorn City, which is a wonderful and funny movie about gamers.

Bryan, thanks so much for taking some time to chat with us! Did we get all the credits right? Or did you have any additional roles/jobs on the film?

I’m going to correct you on the title of writer. I was a co-writer, having written the script with my brother, Adrian. My father, who was one of the executive producers, was instrumental in the writing process as well. He’s the one who would read our stuff, say that it didn’t make any sense, roll his eyes and say it was lame, and push for more weighty issues instead of making it all about people just fartin’ around in a forest.

When you’re talking about an independent movie you end up signing on for all sorts of extra jobs, whether you planned on it or not. I did storyboarding, concept artwork, and a myriad of other things.

So take us back to the beginning: What spawned the idea of Unicorn City? Were you a gamer growing up, or were you drawn to the genre because of the awesome level of geeky awkwardness within the gamer culture?

This is a multifaceted question so I’ll answer it in a kind of brain-barfy way.

The idea of Unicorn City didn’t just pop into our brains. My brother and I had been writing, or rather, trying to figure out how to write, for about 6 years. We had written about 3 scripts. The first one was awful. The second script had dark subject matter and we decided we didn’t want to go there. Basking in the dregs of society isn’t where we wanted to be for the next 2 to 3 years. We wrote another that was just way too big in terms of budget. When they say “don’t limit yourselves when writing” I think they’re smoking. My experience is that you have to have budget in mind. If you’re going to be low budget then treat it that way and embrace it.

So, we knew we had to do something very, very low budget. So low budget that we could finance it by mortgaging our homes...or at least convince my dad to mortgage his. Adrian approached me one day and said, “I got it. A modern day Don Quixote by Cervantes. It’s all about imagination vs. reality, but with gamers.” We grabbed that idea and started working on it. In the meantime I ran into a friend at the LA airport that Adrian and I went to school with named Cameron Dayton. We were catching up before our flight and I mentioned that we were working on a script about gamers. Cameron had a similar idea about the creation of a utopia and the title “Unicorn City.” We met up afterwards and worked together on the story until Cameron left Utah because he got a job with Blizzard Entertainment. At that point we all agreed to move on. Adrian and I kept writing for years after that, about 4 years to be exact, until we had something we felt comfortable in pitching. Writing is the hardest part of filmmaking. Everything else is cake when compared to writing.

In regards to whether or not I gamed growing up; no I didn’t. Adrian played some D&D for a while for not long. Whenever I had a spare moment I was drawing. When it came to Unicorn City Adrian and I joined a guild and gamed for about 8 months. However, even during that time I wasn’t interested in the gaming, or how the game worked, but rather in the people and the relationships around the table.

An additional aspect of myself is that I’ve worked in the video game industry for over 12 years, and still do. Many of those I associate with are gamers and are some of the greatest, most intelligent, and gentle people I know. When Adrian and I started in on the film we really wanted to break the stereotypes of who a gamer is. Everything we saw had them has nerds with glasses. When in reality we had friends in high school who were stars on the football team who gamed religiously. We had a lot of fun doing that and, oddly enough, it’s gamers who write us negative reviews because we busted some of those stereotypes. Kind of funny.

You’re an artist by trade, so how did you fall into making a feature film?

I’ve always drawn. My mother claims all responsibility for my talent because she allowed me to make a mess with my food. My grandmother, who is a neat freak, would be disgusted at the messes I would make in my highchair. My mom would say “Oh, he’s just

painting.” But I share a very deep love of illustration and film. I like to think I “make pictures” and qualify both under that definition.

In grade school I was set on working in the SFX industry. I loved Stan Winston, Dennis Muren, Richard Edlund, Phil Tippett and wanted to do what they did. I would go to the library and copy entire magazines of Cinefex and go over and over them. I realized soon that the director had the ultimate say in the decisions and grew to love the idea of being in charge of the entire story.

I drew and drew through middle school, high school, and when I went to college tried to double major, but the school wouldn’t let me. At BYU I minored in film because I could still get my hands on the equipment and not have to do most of the classes and then majored in illustration. Before leaving school I got a job working for a game company and I’ve been in the games industry since. I currently work for Avalanche Software in Salt Lake City, Utah. Disney is the mothership and we’re currently finishing off “Disney’s Infinity,” which is going to blow peoples minds. It’s a great game (shameless plug).

Some people are calling Unicorn City "Napoleon Dynamite set in a gamer’s world"; how do you react to that comparison?

It’s a compliment. The actual quote that we slapped on our movie poster we got from a fan at our second screening. We showed it at Gencon and after the screening a guy came up to me and said “...that’s like Napoleon Dynamite meets Monty Python’s Holy Grail...” We never had a Peter Travers or any top critic review our movie and give us a quote, so we used this fan’s and indicated that the quote is by “Some dude in Indiana.”

I don’t know if you are aware of this or not but I went to film school with Jared and Jerusha Hess and I was the storyboard artist and script supervisor on Napoleon Dynamite. I never set out to copy it, however there are things that happen in making low-budget that cast a similar glow. For example, you only have so many setups, you only have so much time, comedy plays best in the wide—in a Buster Keaton or vaudeville way. So I share many things in common, stylistically, with Napoleon Dynamite but in terms of story and character I don’t see anything that is really similar. Well, we also have a bus and Jon Gries. But if people want to say that about Unicorn City then go right ahead because I hold both films very dear to my heart.

Using the DM as the film’s villain is sheer genius, and Jon Gries’ portrayal of Shadow Hawk is so sinister I hated him through the whole film! So, be honest: This guy is totally one of your DM’s from the past, isn’t he...?

No. Actually, he’s Shakespeare. Adrian and I made Shadow Hawk's alter ego as William Shakespeare and he’s never been able to fall out of playing that part. The only thing that slides in and out of character is Shadow Hawk’s accent—which I love. We thought it would be funny to have the DM think of himself as the greatest story teller and, of course, that would be Shakespeare. We even gave Jon hair and costuming that reinforced that; the facial hair and beard, pony tail, and those big, poofy shorts and tights during the battle of wits.

So typically when a film or TV show tries to inject “gamer” games or terms into the story, it might make some sort of Catan reference, but the scenes in the game shop have a pretty all-star selection of great board games. Did you have some input on getting your favorites in those scenes?

It wasn’t a matter of finding a favorite but a matter of finding a backdrop. Adrian worked tirelessly, writing tons and tons of emails asking for permission to show them. Most of the companies were very generous and allowed us to display their games.

So when we see the interactions between Voss and his brothers, are we really seeing a window into your relationship with your own siblings?

I don’t know of any relationship between brothers where there isn’t some sort of pecking order. Our neighborhood growing up was full of these types of familial relationships. You can pound that crap out of your brother but no one else can, and if they do you’d pummel their head in. It’s a really weird way that brothers say, “I love you.”

How were you able to walk the fine line of making fun of a culture, while also showing a great affection for that culture?

I think you do that by showing their pain. We’re all attracted to different things. What’s normal to one person is bizarre to another. I could have made a film about people who love fantasy football, or paintballing, or competitive knitting. It doesn’t matter. You show great affection to a culture by making them human and we know they’re human because we relate to their successes and failures. We all know what it feels like to fail and hurt inside. So regardless of what that person is suffering from, whether we think it’s bizarre or not, we’re still tapping into something familiar. If it’s Voss sitting up at night and looking over a miniature landscape and feeling alone and wondering if he even belongs on this earth, then we get it. As long as we’re treating his pain in an honest way. Making fun of something is easy. You just hold a microscope over a culture and not give their ups and downs and equal billing. It comes down to empathy for me.

Aside from some very mild language, and extremely awkward necking, the film is very family friendly—that is to say, there’s nothing overtly violent, sexual, or crude about it. What motivated you to keep the film clean? And how hard was it to maintain that standard?

It’s more difficult to make something that is kind than it is to make something mean. Just as it’s easier to tear down than it is to build up. I took making the film clean as a personal challenge and as a calling card. I had some issues with some of the actors wanting the film to be edgier and some other conversations about how it needed to be aged up, but I felt strongly in making it an experience that everyone in a family could enjoy. I wanted to label myself as a writer and director who embraces family. Interestingly, one of the actors that I'd had this “edgier” conversation with later came to me and basically gave me his genealogical pedigree of everyone he invited to see the film, from his parents to, aunts, uncles, grandma, and kids. He described exactly what I was wanting to achieve, which is that they all went to the movie and enjoyed it together. That’s how I remember films of the 80’s. They were fun for everyone.

The best was when I ran into Chris Metzen, Vice President of Creative Development at Blizzard Entertainment, at Pixar. I was there for my work and listened to a lecture he was giving with other heavy hitters in the game industry. At one point during his lecture he talked about gamers being like a family unit. Which was my philosophy going in to make Unicorn City. I saw gamers sitting around the table gaming as nothing more than a family sitting around the dinner table. They share stories, talk about personal issues, argue, eat, laugh, and enjoy each other. Well, I introduced myself and told him that I wanted to give him my film and that I thought he would love it. Before I could finish he cut me off and said “Unicorn City!!!” He had already seen it, loved it and then paid me the best compliment. He told me that he watched it with his kids and laughed through the whole thing. He said “...good for you, man.  Making a film that I could watch with my kids; that doesn’t happen very much anymore.  You should be proud of that...”

Did Wizards of the Coast not find the screenplay amusing, or was it easier to just allude to them without using their actual name?

We sent Wizards of the Coast a script to see if they would allow us to display their products on film.  The person with whom we were talking was interested and told us to get back with them when we were about ready for production. We did what they asked but when we tried to contact that same person they wouldn’t allow us to talk to them and then said “...absolutely no...”  So we made sure we didn’t use their products and made double sure we didn’t use their name. Then, in the middle of filming, we realized we never had given a name to the company that Voss wanted to work for. Devin McGinn and Adrian approached me in between takes one day and Devin pitched “Warlocks of the Beach.” I laughed so we went with it.

So what do you want someone to walk away from Unicorn City having learned—or felt?

I wanted people to feel good after having watched it. The visual in my head was people leaving the theater with a smile on their faces. I wanted them to laugh and have an experience that I had when I was younger. Which is seeing a film with the entire family and not feeling like you needed to go home and repent for watching the thing. Now that’s the ideological answer. I also wanted to make enough money that I could quit my job and make films full time, or at least have enough money to concentrate on one job. Making a film while you’re working full time, supporting a family, have church responsibilities, work with the scouts, and have a bunch of fruit trees is excruciating. I would have to work on it after 10:30 pm until 1:00 and then get up at 5 am and get another hour and a half in. I did that for years through the writing, then pre-production, and then the post-production/editing phase. I never wanted to do that again, but I will be. Why? Because sitting in the back of a theater and listening to people laugh is an addiction I’m happy to have.

Will there be more films in your future?

I sure as heck hope so. I’m working on other ideas currently. I think I have one that will be a lot of fun.

A sequel to Unicorn City, perhaps?

I don’t see one in the near future, but who knows.

Or are there other stories you want to tell?

I’m dabbling in stories from Western to Science Fiction. I really would like to try all genres, minus horror and porn.

5-questions, 5 words to answer them (okay, you can use a phrase if it’s appropriate):

Favorite RPG race/class combo?

Clarbadong. Just made that up.

Favorite seven-letter word?

Unicorn

Favorite science fiction television show of ALL TIME!?

Greatest American Hero, Voyagers, or Star Trek

Favorite vacation you’ve taken?

My family kidnapped me from going to work one day during a very stressful time.

Favorite minor character in a major film?

I have a few that come to mind:

Argyle in Die Hard

Blain in Predator

Hudson in Aliens

Skinhead (Elias Koteas) in Some Kind of Wonderful

Anthony Qunn in Lawrence of Arabia (not really a minor character)

Bryan, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us today!

Unicorn City is currently available on Netflix instant streaming. You can also get your own copy of the film on Blu-ray and DVD on Amazon right here!  You can also find more about the film at UnicornCity.com, and on Facebook.

We really enjoyed the film, and the sincerity in which the gaming culture was handled. This film has a lot of heart! And it's funny!

Thanks as always for reading our little blog; if you like what's happening here please subscribe over on the right. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V7BZy-dCyc&w=560&h=315]

Another Contest! We're Giving Away Fluxx: The Board Game!

Do you like chaos? Well how about Milk & Cookies? Well do you at least like free games?! Good! We like giving them away!

Thanks to the fine folks at Looney Labs, we have a brand-new copy of the hot-off-the-presses game Fluxx: The Board Game—and we're giving it away to one of you! We've played the game, and we can tell you that it's much more strategic than the card game. Even if you don't like the card game (like Firestone!), we think you should give the board game a shot. It's a horse of a different color...

This contest is a little different than the ones we ran last month. In order to be eligible for this contest you'll need to subscribe to our newly launched YouTube channel. In two weeks, we'll give the game away to one YouTube channel subscriber (who also has a US address).

But wait! There's MOAR! If we get to 100 subscribers in those two weeks, we'll give someone else a copy of Kill The Overlord, from APE Games. We can do this! Tell your friends! Tell you enemies! Tell your mama, 'cause if she wins, she'll just give the game to you anyway...

Thanks for reading!

[youtube http://youtu.be/H0NFmTQgBy0]

Race For the Galaxy: Alien Artifacts Delayed. Again. (Plus a Bonus Rant!)

By Firestone I'm starting to think we're going to discover actual alien artifacts before the new Race For the Galaxy expansion is released...

BGG user KissaTalkuri noticed that the Rio Grande Games site now has a release date of 12/1/2013 for the game. You might remember that I wrote about Rio Grande Games telling us December of 2012 that the game's release was imminent. I expressed some doubt about that—given Rio Grande's past issues with release dates.

Sometimes I hate it when I'm right...

Here's what's in the box:

• ~45 new cards and start worlds to add to the base set, plus a set of action cards and start hand for a fifth player.

• ~45 cards and Alien tokens used to represent the Alien Orb which players jointly map and explore, gaining tokens of various types that provide powers and VPs. There are also five new Explore action cards used to map the Orb (instead of gaining an additional card or greater card selection).

How in the world can it take so long to print that? Rio Grande Games is becoming a joke. I can't trust anything that comes out of Jay's mouth regarding release dates.

Let's look at just a few examples.

• Years ago El Grande was out-of-print and it took YEARS for the reprint to show up, despite repeated and then bumped release dates given. And then the game had errors on the action cards!
• Tikal was also out of print for years. We also got promises and bumps. It finally arrived and it wasn't nearly as great as the others in the Mask series! (Okay, that's not Rio Grande's fault... But it's still true!)
• Then we have Arctic Scavengers. It took Rio Grande THREE YEARS to get this one out. Way to strike while the iron is hot...

This is no different. Race For the Galaxy is an amazing game, and this expansion is certainly going to be snatched up by all of the fans out there (myself included!). But...I can't remember the last time anyone in our group played RFtG. It's a classic, but not one that's often thought of anymore. The longer you delay the expansion, the less relevant the base game seems.

Jay at Rio Grande doesn't seem to have any problems getting Dominion expansions out the door. Of course, that game is still hot enough that printing a new expansion is like printing money. It would be nice if he put some of the same effort into games that aren't Dominion...

Rio Grande used to sit atop the heap when it came to Euro publishers. That's not the case anymore. Lots of new companies have come risen up to challenge that—and they're winning. There are lots of factors when it comes to why these new publishers have been able to grow and become players in the market, and I'm convinced that one of them is Rio Grande's inability to hold a release date on anything that's not Dominion.

Ask yourself this: If you had a new game design, and Rio Grande was publishing it, would you be excited, or worried that they'd make you wait three years, while the nimble publishers out there are printing game after game every month?

I truly hope Rio Grande turns things around. My earliest games, when I jumped into this hobby nine years ago, were almost all Rio Grande ones. I love what they've done and I love what they do. I just wish they did it better.

Sorry this news piece turned into a rant...but COME ON!

Thanks for reading. And we've got a new giveaway to announce soon! The only heads-up I'm going to tell you now is that you should go subscribe to our YouTube channel. And while you're there, check out our first foray into video reviews: Awesome Level 9000.

Kickstarter Weekly: Game Salute Special!

Well, like we said: Game Salute is busy powering a bunch of Kickstarter Campaigns, and bringing a bunch of games to market! So we thought we would dedicate an entire post to campaigns that wear the Game Salute brand, so here we go!

Magnum Opus - Clever Mojo Games

We'll be reviewing this title here on TOG very soon. Magnum Opus is a deck-builder with a cool matrix of cards to research and select from! You can jump on board with this one for $35, which is a great value! But! If you go in for $200 you can also receive one of the 8 prototype copies that are being sent out to the reviewers. (Including the one sitting on Scott's shelf and the one sitting next to me (Jeremiah) right now!) How cool is that!? You can find the full details and lots of videos and such right here!

Chaos & Alchemy - Clay Crucible Games

There seems to be a lot of games delving into the realm of alchemy lately and we see another example of that here! The game is listed as a quick-playing card and dice game for 2-5 players, and seems to feature a fair amount of decisions on each players turn. You use dice to give the players actions (play cards, etc.). You can get in on this one for $25, and with plenty of time left they've already funded, so there should be some sweet stretch goals in the future for backers! You can check out the full campaign, right here!

Zoo Fu - Closet Nerd Games

After a long day in the zoo, animals go full out in a samurai battle royal. This card battle game pits players against each other in an attempt to be zoo champion! When the deck runs out the player holding the most chi tokens is crowned Zoo Fu champion! A super inexpensive game to jump into at $15, and looks like a fun, light family game! They need a good boost to get to their funding goal on this one! You can check out the full campaign here!

KerFlip! 2nd Edition - Creative Foundry Games

KerFlip is a fun fast paced word game that we reviewed a few months ago. (Read that review here!) But wait...there's more, because with the help of Game Salute, Creative Foundry Games is upgrading KerFlip for a second edition! It's really quite simple: If you have the original version, for a $10 bill you can get a conversion pack, or if you back it for $25 you'll get the 2nd edition of the full game! The campaign is right here!

Thanks, as always, for reading! If you like what we bring you every day, take a second and sign up for our email list over on the right!

You can also interact with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!